I (Carl) just read and listened to Bernadette Jiwa’s excellent book Difference: The One-Page Method For Reimagining Your Business And Reinventing Your Marketing. In the Audible title, it’s so cool to hear her Irish-Australian brogue as she articulates the foundational elements of brand formation.

Here is one of many highlights I made:

“Perhaps it’s time to get comfortable with the fact that if we want to change the world, we need to stop being afraid to tell better true stories. Maybe the time has come to stop trying to convince people and to invest time instead in showing them what we stand for, so that they can choose the stories and brands they want to believe in. Marketing is not a department, it’s the story of how we create difference for our customers.”

Diving into this book with both feet, I probably didn’t notice myself declaring “Exactly!” out loud a few times when reading such spot-on thoughts.

So much of what is passed off as marketing is actually noisy lies, told over and over. How refreshing to have Bernadette remind us that it’s not only possible to grow a business by telling better and true stories—it’s critical to long term viability.

She cites successful examples of “difference thinking” across multiple industries and cultures. She shows us in detail how they carefully plan their engagement with clients. In each case, these companies’ products and services are the last things they talk about—unlike most marketing campaigns with their pop-ups, loud voiceovers, and shrill desperation.

Here’s another excerpt from Bernadette:

“…difference thinkers don’t begin with an idea and think in increments of improvement; they start with empathy. This gives them the ability to take what is and understand what could be. The product or service that is born from creating difference in this way is the marketing.”

“Why should I read this book?” you ask. I’m hard-pressed to think of anyone who would not benefit from “Difference.” It’ll either shift your thinking in a constructive manner, or it’ll inspire further refinement of your process.

Why and How.

We’ll be sharing about items of value whose purpose determines their usefulness. You’ll find great books, tools, recommended practices, devices, apps, services, and more. We’ll start with each one’s “Why,” then show “How” it can help in your life or work.

The sea is wide open and the wind is at our backs so let’s set sail, shall we?